Disclosure
We have adhered to all of the opinions and policies of the Federal Judicial Conference with respect to disclosure as these have been interpreted by our Board of Judicial Advisors, and will continue to do so. We have been told by the Administrative Office of the US Courts that we have provided all disclosure required by them.
See our list of donors.
We are an integral part of George Mason University School of Law, an accredited and highly respected institution of higher learning. None of our more than 115 donors provides more than a fifth of our budget. Support from corporations or corporate foundations accounted for less than ten percent of our budget in our last fiscal year, and no single such supporter provided more than two percent of the budget. None of our 2006-07 programs are supported by contributions earmarked for that program from any donor. Our programs are theoretical and not tendentious, and our programs avoid topics likely to become the subject matter of litigation. The curriculum, faculty, invitation list and acceptance policy for our programs is determined solely by professors at George Mason University School of Law. Expenses are reasonable in amount. The average per diem expense for rooms, meals, taxes and gratuities is approximately $350. There are no events other than meals and lectures at our programs.
The Code of Conduct Committee of the Federal Bench has noted that “[t]he education of judges in various academic and law-related disciplines serves the public interest” (Advisory Opinion 67). This policy was reiterated by the Federal Judicial Conference in September 2006.
The continuing education of judges is in the public interest. Judges need to enhance their understanding of law, science, history, economics, sociology, philosophy, and other disciplines to the same extent as lawyers and other professionals. … Without such knowledge of the world around them, judges would be ill-prepared to make informed and fair decisions.
In view of the compelling need for and many benefits of continuing education, the Judicial Conference believes that neither it nor any other entity should seek to limit judges’ access to knowledge or censor their right to increase that knowledge.
Advisory Opinion 67 lists certain factors which may affect the propriety of a judge’s attendance at a program:
- Is the sponsor an accredited institution of higher learning?
- Whether there are numerous contributors to seminar funding, none of which contributes a substantial portion of the cost; and whether the program is funded by contributions earmarked for specific seminar programs.
- Whether a sponsor or source of substantial funding is currently involved as a party in litigation or is likely to be so involved.
- Whether the topics covered in the seminar are likely to be in some manner related to the subject matter of litigation, and whether contributors to seminar funding control the curriculum, faculty, or invitation list.
- Whether the expenses are reasonable in amount, and whether the seminar is primarily educational and not recreational in nature.
- Whether the seminar provider makes public disclosure about the sources of seminar funding.
George Mason programs satisfy all of these standards, and in response to a specific query about a George Mason program, the Committee subsequently found that federal judges may attend it (5-104, 05/31/05).
On standards as to recusal after attending a Mason program, participants might refer to In re Aguinda, 241 F.3d 194 (2d Cir. 2000) (judge's attendance at a FREE judicial seminar did not require recusal from a case involving a corporation that had contributed between 3% to 6% of provider’s budget because no one could reasonably doubt the judge's impartiality in the case). Four members of the United States Supreme Court and nearly half of the present Article III federal bench have attended a George Mason program or a program where George Mason supplied the academic content.
On disclosure with respect to programs of the Aspen Institute, the following op-ed is instructive.
Donors
We are very grateful to our supporters, who permit us to offer our excellent programs for judges. They support an excellent cause in the public interest, and the academic nature of our offerings attests to their high civic-mindedness.
We welcome support from donors. Please make your check payable to the George Mason University Foundation and note at the bottom that the donation should be devoted to the Law & Economics Center. Send your support to George Mason Law & Economics Center, 3301 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22201.